Avatar: The Last Earthbender
by Guardian of Nesh
Summary: Toph, the Avatar and last Earthbender is found bt Zuko and Azula after having disappeared for 100 years. Now they must travel together so Toph can master the four Elements and defeat the Water Empire. Pairings: Zuko/Toph, others undecided.
1. Fire: Chapter 1: The Avatar Returns

**Avatar: The Last Earthbender**

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The last Airbender or, just to cover my bases, Legend of Korra. I am however proficient in the ancient art of Settingbending which I'm using here.

Pre-story author's note: In order to get this plot to work I have taken some minor liberties with some characters which will become apparent as the story moves forward. Please don't kill me for these, all the other difference can be explained away as changes brought about by the nature of the premise.

**Chapter 1: The Avatar Returns**

"Fire. Air. Water. Earth," Zuko began the story as he always did. There wasn't much hope in the war. There hadn't been for a long time. He needed to keep Azula's spirits up. Especially with their father out on the frontlines, "Back before Grandpa died and he became Fire Lord, Uncle Iroh used to tell me stories of when the four nations lived together in harmony. That all changed when the Water Empire attacked." Azula let out an exasperated sigh.

"I know this story by heart Zuzu," she said dryly, "You tell it often enough." Zuko smiled at the nickname his little sister had given him, a holdover from the days when she'd been unable to pronounce his name.

"I know you do Azula, but it's good to remind ourselves of why our nation is fighting," the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation said. Azula sighed again.

"Continue if you must." She had that air of royalty about her that Zuko sometimes lacked, the one that made you seem above the whole business.

"It was said that only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them, but when the world needed the Avatar most, they vanished." Zuko finished the narration.

"The Avatar is just an old folktale; we can't rely on some spirit to win the war. It will be father who finally brings the Water Empire down to their knees." Azula was very close to their father, she always had been. He was her hero and therefore in her mind the confidence in her voice was justified.

"I hope you're right Azula, I really do. He's got just as much reason to want to end this war as anyone else in the Fire Nation," Zuko's fists clenched as he thought of their mother who'd been killed in a Water Empire raid years ago. His sister said nothing to console him. She hadn't been nearly as close to their mother has he had. She'd still been affected of course, she'd still grieved and still come to despise the Water Empire because of it just not as much a Zuko had, "Sometimes I wish I could find the Avatar. Find out why they haven't been helping us all these years. Agni knows the world needs them. Why did they abandon us?"

"You don't actually _believe_ in the Avatar do you Zuzu," Azula questioned. Her tone left a sour taste in his mouth. It was sweet, almost angelic but patronizing as well. There was no question about what she thought of belief in the Avatar, "It's like I said, the Avatar is just some dusty old folktale too help children sleep at night."

"You're probably right Azula, but what if the Avatar does exist…" Zuko trailed off at the sight of the withering look Azula was giving him.

"Give up on the Avatar Zuko. They're just a story. If the Fire Nation is going to survive this war with the Water Empire we'll have to do it with our own power." The princess insisted. Zuko simply nodded and stood up brushing the beach sand off of his pants and taking a deep breath of the cool night air.

"We should head back in Azula. It's already dark and our fire is going out. Uncle Iroh won't be happy if we don't head home soon." He said.

"Can we practice our Firebending first?" she asked.

"You know we're not supposed to Firebend, we were lucky Dad even taught us the basics before he left to fight in the war. Uncle doesn't want us to learn. This war has already cost us Mon and cousin Lu Ten. They don't want to put us in danger too." Zuko said. He'd explained this to his sister about a million times before.

"I know that. That doesn't mean I have to like it. We're here on Ember Island to have a vacation. I'd like to do something we both enjoy instead of sipping tea with Uncle Iroh all day." Azula said.

"Now Azula, we're lucky we got this vacation with Uncle. We don't get to spend much time with him with him being Fire Lord and all. It takes almost all of his time to make sure that the Fire Nation doesn't end up completely wiped out like the Earth Kingdom was. Be a little more respectful." Zuko chided gently.

"I do respect Uncle. I just want to be out there fighting Waterbenders. You do too I know it. The only way we'll ever have a shot at doing that is to practice our Firebending." Zuko sighed sometimes it seemed like his sister knew him a little _too_ well.

"Alright Azula, we can practice our Firebending before we head back." He punctuated his remark by thrusting his fist out at his sister and sending a fireball in her direction. He caught Azula's smirk as she deflected the attack with her own bending and responded in kind with her extremely rare blue flames. Zuko deflected her attack just as easily as she had his. Neither was really trying at this point, this was just the warm-up, put intended.

Over the next few minutes the pace of the sparing quickened considerably with Azula pushing Zuko back. Despite her being younger than him his sister had always been the better bender. He sent several fireballs in her direction in quick succession. In response Azula slammed her hands to the ground and conjured up a wall of fire to block them.

Zuko really wanted to draw his dual dao swords, they would've helped even the playing field but that would have been cheating in a pure Firebending spar such as this one and therefore dishonorable. Azula sent a barrage of fireballs his way and he hastily copied her wall of fire and blocked them. As he dropped the shield Azula followed up her previous attack with a wave of fore from a bicycle kick, which he barely managed to deflect However he was unable to counter her quick follow up to that attack as she thrust her palm out and sent a steam of fire at his chest.

Zuko went flying backwards into a rather large rock that hadn't been there when they arrived at the beach. He groaned in pain from the impact. His back was going to be bruised for awhile. His chest twanged a bit as well but that would pass Azula hadn't put enough into her attack to do any real damage.

"Zuko are you alright?" Azula asked as she ran up to check on him.

"Yeah, I'm fine sis. I'll be okay," he assured her before turning to look at the large bolder he'd crashed into. There was something strange about it, "I wonder where this came from?"

"It probably just washed up while we weren't looking." Azula said offhandedly.

"No, there's something strange about it…" as if that were a cue of some sort the rock began to glow a blue-white color revealing the outline of a girl inside it, "We have to help her!" Zuko didn't wait for his sister to reply and blasted the rock with fire to no visible effect. He kept this up for about a minute with the same result. Finally Azula joined in.

"Why are you trying to save her, she's probably dead and could be from the Water Empire for all we know." She pointed out.

"It's the right thing to do Azula." Zuko said resolutely. Seeing that fire was having no effect Zuko drew his swords and began to slice at the rock. He managed to make a crack in the rock which leaked the same brilliant light. Suddenly the boulder exploded throwing the siblings unceremoniously backwards and sprawling on to their backs. The girl in the rock floated for a moment outlined in white light, her eyes glowing the same color. Zuko stood transfixed at the sight. Then suddenly the light faded and the girl plummeted to the ground. Both siblings ran to catch her out of reflex but Zuko, being older and fast got there first. Zuko caught the mysterious girl and laid her on the ground. Shortly thereafter she groaned and opened her eyes they abnormally light.

"What's going on here," the girl demanded.

"You tell us," Azula replied, "How did you get it that boulder? Why aren't you crushed?"

"I'll be asking the questions around here," the girl said. Both Zuko and Azula noticed the sand on the beach try to rise up seemingly of its own volition, "Oh great. This ground is _sand_ isn't it? I _hate_ sand."

"You're an Earthbender." Zuko breathed.

"You don't know that Zuko she could be an Airbender working for the Water Empire, did you see that light? It was probably some sort of signal."

"She's not dressed like an Airbender and she's missing the tattoos." Zuko countered.

"Of course she doesn't look like an Airbender Zuzu; the Water Empire isn't going to advertise its agents."

"Do you two ever shut up?" the girl shouted. Zuko noted that this girl could project an impressive presence for someone her age, she had to be a couple years young than Azula and yet it felt like she was in command here, the siblings' royal blood aside.

"I'm sorry," The Fire Nation prince said, "I'm Zuko and my paranoid sister is Azula. What's your name?"

"Toph. Toph Beifong," Toph said, "For your information I am an Earthbender and I really want to get off of this beach. It's hard to see with all this sand around."

"See? But you're blind Toph." Azula noted. Zuko gasped he hadn't made the connection between her pale eyes and the disability.

"Aw how cute, she noticed," Toph sneered causing Azula to scowl at her, a pointless gesture considering the Earthbender couldn't see it, "I use my Earth bending to sense vibrations in the ground and in a way that lets me see. Sand though is loose and it muffles the vibrations, making it harder for me to see. Not to mention it's near impossible to Earthbend sand."

"We'll take you to see our uncle. He'll be very interested in you. We haven't had an Earthbender around here in a long time." Zuko said.

"Who's your uncle?" Toph asked.

"He's the Fire Lord." Azula replied with pride in her voice. Toph groaned.

"Royals, that's _just _what I needed."

* * *

Sokka, Prince of the Water Empire turned from his game of Pai Sho when the pillar of light appeared. It was easy to see in the darkness. Darkness, even after three years of banishment he wasn't used to that. It would be light nearly all the time this time of year back home at the South Pole. Although it seemed his exile would soon be over.

"That light came from an extremely powerful source. Do you know what this means," he asked with just a twinge of excitement in his voice, "The Avatar Master Piandao, we've found him at last!" The old sword master took a sip of his tea before speaking.

"Perhaps we have Prince Sokka, but I urge you think before charging in. That light will take us straight into Fire Nation waters. The Fire Navy will not take kindly to our ship. That light came from the direction Ember Island, a resort for the rich and powerful of the Fire Nation. It will be heavily guarded. The Avatar may be on that island but it may not be wise to attack. The Fire Nation's defenses are formidable, that's how they've managed to stay in this war so long. I know that better than anyone on this ship."

Sokka pondered the words of his master and could see the wisdom in them. Master Piandao had been a soldier in the Fire Army revered for his swordsmanship and sword making skills before being taken prisoner by the Water Empire. The Empire had made great use of his weapon crafting skills and he had been made Sokka's teacher in the art of a sword. The Prince of the Water Empire wasn't a bender so he'd had to find other ways to fight.

Sokka's hand ran over the eye patch on the left side of his face. Master Piandao was a great man, especially considering that he was Fire Nation, the enemy. Sokka didn't consider the man as such, he'd been like a surrogate father to him but Master Piandao would never quite understand Sokka's pain.

"I don't have a choice, the sooner I capture the Avatar the sooner I can return home to my mother and sister. I embarrassed my family and must atone for it." Sokka said.

"Are you sure that's what you want Price Sokka? Yes, you will be reunited with your family and that is a good thing but… other things will not have changed. Are you sure you can go back to that?" Master Piandao asked. Sokka squeezed his eye shut pushing away the memories of why he was in this situation.

"I will live with it, because I must." He said.

"Alright then how do you plan to get past the Fire Navy?" his mentor inquired.

"There are many skilled Waterbenders on this ship, even if they are exiles looking for a way home like me. We can literally control the seas. It's the Avatar that concerns me. Why would the Fire Nation have hid them this whole time? The Avatar would make a powerful weapon in the war and depending on whether or not we missed an Earthbender somewhere along the way has had eighty to a hundred years to master the four elements."

"That's another reason to reconsider this course of action Prince Sokka. The Avatar is the master of all four elements. Your Waterbenders will be tied up fighting Fire Nation soldiers. You are a non-bender to go up against the Avatar would be something most would consider suicide." Sokka smiled and turned back toward his master.

"That is why it's brilliant Master no one would expect a non-bender like me to challenge the Avatar. You have taught me the way of the sword and I have learned it well and I am a master of the boomerang. I am as prepared as I can possibly be for this battle. Everything hinges on this, I will not fail." Sokka swore to himself.

"I am going to rest," Master Piandao said as he stood up, "You should as well. You need to prepare yourself mentally for the coming conflict. We won't reach Ember Island until well into the morning; I will drill you on your weapons before we get to the island." Sokka merely nodded, his mind already completely focused on the coming battle.

* * *

Toph felt more comfortable now that she was inside. Now that she was off the beach she could feel the vibrations properly again. She could see again, well see as much as her sight was actually seeing at any rate. At least she was somewhat at home in finery, true it was Fire Nation finery and not Earth Kingdom finery but she was of noble birth and this felt a little like home. It was odd how much she appreciated it now, she'd always wanted to be away from home but now being so far away from home it was a comfort.

Toph was being escorted by two Fire Nation guards to meet with Fire Lord. What the Fire Lord wanted to discuss she didn't know, but she wasn't stupid enough to deny one of the most powerful men on Earth. Toph felt that girl, what was her name? Azula, yes that was it, following them. Toph figured she wanted to eavesdrop on her meeting with the Fire Lord. The Earthbender said nothing of the tail, wanting to see how far the sneaky little Firebender could actually get.

The guards led her into a room where a man was waiting. She smelled jasmine tea. The man waved the guards away and they weren't looking Azula slipped behind a tapestry on the wall. The man in the room, who she assumed must be Fire Lord Iroh.

"Please sit, Toph, was it," The Earthbender did sit, "I apologize for not seeing you last night, but it was rather late you understand and I need my rest to run the Fire Nation."

"It's not a problem." Toph said. She'd been raised in a wealthy home, even if she was hidden from the world for the most part. She knew how to be polite to those of higher station, even if she didn't like to do it.

"My niece and nephew tell me that they found you in a boulder on the beach. That must have been quite a ride," The Fire Lord said with a chuckle as he poured the tea, "Would you like some sugar in your tea Toph?" Toph was beginning to wonder if Fire Lord Iroh was all there in the head. He seemed to take her mysterious on the beach rather lightly. Most people would not be inclined to do so, especially those running a country.

"Two lumps please," Toph cast her unseeing eyes of at the tapestry hiding Azula, "You know your niece is hiding over there right?" Iroh chuckled again.

"Is she now? Azula likes to spy on private meetings. I've known for quite some time that she does this; I've just never called her out on it. Come Azula, sit and have tea with us." Toph could feel Azula's eyes on her. The Fire Princess was _not _a happy girl right now. The Earthbender didn't care.

Azula sat down and made her own cup of tea before speaking, "So Uncle why did you want to see the Earthbender anyway? I know she's a curiosity with the Earth Kingdom having been destroyed in the war but don't you have more important matters to attend to?" There was a smirk in the girl's voice. Toph figured that Azula was trying to throw her off-balance.

"Azula!" Iroh snapped, "You are being very rude. I'm sure that is a very delicate subject for our guest. It should be approached with care, not tossed out casually like a hello!" Now Toph was truly confused; she had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. The scariest part was that she could sense no deception from them.

"War? What war? I don't know of any war? What do you mean the Earth Kingdom destroyed?" Iroh sighed.

"I was afraid of this," he said, "Toph how long do you think you were trapped in that boulder?"

"I don't know, maybe a month or two to drift all the way to Fire Nation territory." She guessed.

"Actually I think it's more like a hundred years," the Fire Lord told her, "That's how long the war has been going on. You don't know about it because you were in that boulder the entire time. Tell me Toph have you noticed anything that you would consider strange about this island?" Toph thought for a moment.

"It's colder, than it should be," she said, "The Fire Nation is on the equator. It should be much warmer than this, even in winter."

"You are correct," Iroh said, "One hundred years ago, an extremely rare alignment of cosmic events occurred. At a single point in time the Earth reached the point where it was both closest to the Moon and farthest from the Sun, it also happened to be a full moon. The Water Empire used this combination of cosmic events to cool the planet starting an ice age. Crops failed because of the climate change and the Water Empire not only blockaded Earth Kingdom ports and made several attacks over the century until the Earthbenders and the Earth Kingdom itself was wiped out." Toph's jaw dropped as once again she could sense no deception from Fire Lord Iroh.

"Why? Why would they do that?" she demanded. Iroh gave a sad sigh.

"If I had to guess, you." he said. Toph's jaw fell further. She knew where this was going, or at least she had an idea.

"Me?" she asked trying to deny the feeling in her gut.

"Of course, you are the Avatar are you not? We haven't seen an Earthbender in a hundred years but the Avatar Spirit was never reincarnated into a Fire Nation child. It seemed like a fairly good guess." The Fire Lord explained.

"The Avatar," Azula burst out, "You actually believe that _she_ is the Avatar Uncle? It's just an old story!"

"You are wrong Azula. My father Fire Lord Azulon was told stories from his father Fire Lord Sozin who had personally met the previous Avatar Kuruk of the Northern Water Tribe in person." Iroh once again did not seem pleased with his niece.

"Yes, I am the Avatar." Toph confirmed some of the confidence leaking from her voice. The room went silent, not even Azula could find anything to say. The tea had grown cold as the conversation had gone on. It had been completely forgotten due to the weight of the subject of conversation.

A Fire Nation soldier entered the room gasping for air, his armor all askew. He tried to speak but stumbled over his words.

""Calm down soldier," Iroh said, "What is it?"

"Fire Lord Iroh, a Water Empire ship is attacking the island! You and Princess Azula must come with me for safety." The soldier said.

"That light that shown when Zuko and I released you from the boulder must have attracted them." Azula's tone was accusatory. Toph glared at the princess.

"Fire Lord Iroh, Princess Azula, we must get you to safety. Prince Zuko is already in a safe place, we must join him immediately." The guard pressed.

"Toph, will you come with us?" The Avatar shook her head.

"No, it's me they want and me they'll get." She said. Iroh and Azula were shuffled off down a back hallway while Toph headed outside.

* * *

Sokka watched his Waterbenders fight the Fire Nation soldiers. Both the Benders and non-benders of the Fire Nation were skilled warriors; Sokka could see and appreciate that as a warrior himself. However they were at a disadvantage against the Waterbenders of his force who kept the tide turned in his favor, not just because of the natural opposition of water to fire but because Ember Island was, well, an island. The Fire Nation soldiers had their backs to the sea, a weapon of their enemy. Victory seemed assured.

"Where's the Avatar, I know they're here," Sokka asked the defeated Fire Nation soldiers. He hadn't joined the battle, opting to save his energy for fighting the Avatar; he knew he would need it, "You know a Bender of prodigious talent, master of all four elements, probably about a hundred years old." For a moment no one said a thing, not even denial from the Fire Nation solders. The exiled prince of the Water Empire was about to make another demand of the defeated Fire Nation soldiers when the ground under his men heaved, tossing them aside. Sokka turned in the only direction it could've come from, toward the beach houses and found a girl who could be no older than twelve standing there.

"You want the Avatar," she said, "Well I'm right here, come and get me."

"You," Sokka asked incredulously, "but you're just a kid." He rested his hand on the hilt of his black bladed sword anyway, just in case.

"And you're a teenager, what's your point? You just saw me Earthbend, isn't that enough for you?" The girl using her Earthbending to shoot a rock at Sokka's head to counter he drew his sword and sliced the projectile in half. The Prince of the Water Empire charged the Avatar, barely dodging between chunks of ground that upturned themselves at the girl's command and slicing projectiles sent his way.

"Your Earthbending skills are impressive Avatar," he complimented, "but I must wonder why you haven't used any other elements against me." Sokka was genuinely curious about this and he hoped that the question might throw the Avatar off balance, but much to his chagrin she never missed a beat in her attack.

"I could ask why you haven't used any Waterbending against me," The Avatar said. She raised a defense wall of tightly packed earth and stone as he got in striking distance, which Sokka cleaved through with his sword, "or how that sword can cut through my defenses so easily." Sokka smiled at this.

"I'm not a Bender Avatar. That's why I trained in the way of the sword. As for the sword itself, there's none other like it in the world. It was forged from a meteorite that fell from space, under the watchful eye of the world's greatest sword master Piandao by yours truly." He explained.

"How nice for you." the Avatar said sardonically. With that she slammed her feet into the ground and sent Sokka flying with a wave of earth.

"You got me talking as a distraction. Now I really am impressed," the Water prince commented as he stood back up, "May I ask your name Earthbender?"

"Toph Beifong," Toph said, "and who are you that' you're so important you can lead a Water Empire raid on the Fire Nation without being a Bender?"

"My name is Sokka. I am the crown Prince of the Water Empire," he explained, "or at least, I was, I disgraced myself and now to get back into the good graces of my family I must capture, the Avatar, you Toph, and bring them back to the South Pole. It's nothing personal against you, you understand, just something I have to do." Toph rolled her eyes at that.

"I'm _so_ glad it's not personal." Toph's tone was as dry as a desert, from the few minutes that Sokka had known her it seemed that was one of few of, if not the only tone she had. Maybe she was only like that in battle but he doubted it, "That makes me much more likely to go with you despite the fact that your people tried to freeze the Earth and probably want me dead. Oh wait, no it doesn't. It just makes me want to bust some people's heads in. It's my job as the Avatar after all and between you and me Sokka, I like busting heads." Sokka's hand reached up and touched his eye patch almost of its own volition.

"I don't care about any of that, I don't have the luxury of being able to care about it," the Water Prince could feel the Avatar slowly Bending earth up his legs, this chat was just another distraction, well two could play at that game. Sokka reached for his boomerang and threw it, intentionally missing Toph, It would get her on the return sing; the whole point was to take her by surprise.

"Your aim stinks," the Avatar taunted. Sokka smirked, she'd fallen for it. He noticed the Water Empire soldiers getting back up, all according to his admittedly impromptu plan, "Anyway I don't care about your backstory Sokka. It's not my problem; no matter you much you want to make it my problem."

"You know I never expected you to be blind and you being a girl is a surprise as well." He just had to keep her talking a little while longer. None of his soldier exiled soldiers made a move to aid him. Good, he hadn't signaled them to, they knew he was an amazing strategist and would wait for his order to do anything.

"Yeah and I didn't think the Crown Prince of the Water Empire could be so whiny. You've spent most of this battle trying to convince me to feel sorry for you, it's pathetic," Toph spat on the ground to show how pathetic it was, "I really don't care what you think of me." The rock encasement was getting close to his arms now, normally this would've concerned Sokka but he smirked when he saw the boomerang on its way back. The weapon smacked Toph squarely in the back of head.

"What the hell was that?" she growled shaking her head in disorientation. Sokka gave a muted nod to his men who rushed the stunned Avatar.

"Lift her off the ground and don't let any part of her body touch the ground until she's locked in a cell on the ship, and then set a course for the South Pole," The soldiers nodded and carried a squirming Toph off into Sokka's ship past the defeated Fire Nation soldiers. As Sokka walked back to the ship after freeing himself from the rock with his sword he picked up his boomerang and spoke to it, "I love you boomerang."

* * *

A panting soldier was never a good sign. Zuko knew that much, so when one came into the place of safety he and his family had been ushered to he knew bad news was coming. However he couldn't prepare for the magnitude of the news.

"Fire Lord Iroh, the Avatar's been captured," the soldier reported, "or at least the Water Empire thinks the Earthbender girl is the Avatar." Zuko's jaw dropped, Toph had been captured. His uncle had told Zuko Toph was the Avatar when he and Azula had joined Zuko in the hiding place. He thought she'd be too powerful for anyone to defeat, let alone capture from that fact alone. Azula had a smug look on her face, one her brother could read all too well.

"_I guess the legendary Avatar isn't so tough after all."_ It said. He resisted the urge to say something to his younger sister.

"Well," Iroh began, "have the orders to case them down and free the girl been given? This was an attack on our land and an important person was taken, the most important person in this entire war."

"The order would've been given sir but our ships were too greatly damaged from trying to stop them from landing." The solder replied.

"This is most troubling," the Fire Lord mused, "Do we know who led this attack?"

"The exiled Prince of the Water Empire, Sokka, sir." The soldier said. Zuko knew of Sokka of course, as a member of court, and the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation no less, he was well informed, and he saw the light of recognition in Azula's eyes as well. Purportedly Sokka was just a little younger than Zuko himself. He was a non-bender who showed great talent with both the sword and strategy. He'd been banished from the Water Empire for reasons unknown to anyone outside it. Sokka likely thought capturing the Avatar would allow him to rejoin his people.

"We have to rescue her." Zuko said. His uncle nodded.

"I agree, the Avatar must be liberated, I will take Valinor and hunt down that ship personally." Valinor was Iroh's dragon, a gorgeous creature with white scales and golden eyes to match that of the Royal Family.

"With all due respect Fire Lord Iroh, I can't allow you to do that," The soldier said, "You are too valuable to lose."

"Are you implying that I couldn't handle a ship full of Waterbenders, led by a young non-bender, soldier," Iroh asked. Zuko rarely saw his uncle like this and when he did get like this it was never a good sign, "I am a careful man and a powerful Firebender. I could retrieve the Avatar."

"I never said otherwise," said the soldier, "but we can't risk it on the off chance something goes wrong."

"Zuko and I will go." Azula volunteered. Everyone's head swiveled toward her in shock. It was no secret she didn't like Toph, so she must have had some ulterior motive for this.

"What are you doing?" Zuko mouthed to her. She discreetly winked at him.

"You're always talking about destiny uncle, well we found the Avatar. Surely that is destiny." Azula continued. Now Zuko could see the angle she was talking but his sister's reasons were still a mystery to him. He decided to play along anyway and figure it out later.

"Yes that's right uncle, we found Toph so our destinies must be tied to hers," he added. Iroh stroked his beard in thought, "We must be the ones to rescue her. I know we can do it. Not to mention she probably saved the people who were vacationing on Ember Island from being attacked by Water Empire forces" The Fire Lord nodded reluctantly.

"I don't like it, but fate has set your path and you must follow it. Zuko, you and Azula will take Valinor and rescue the Avatar from the Water Empire ship," the soldier guarding them looked like he was about to protest again, "And then you will return here to be prepared for the long journey ahead of you. That is an order." The soldier's mouth snapped shut and Zuko saw Azula smirk. Interfering with a direct order from the Fire Lord was a sentence to life imprisonment at the very least; it would be a death sentence for an order of this magnitude. Once again, Azula had manipulated the situation to get her way. Zuko still couldn't fathom what she wanted but they were going to rescue Toph so he didn't care at the moment.

"Yes, as you wish uncle." he said.

They were led to Vanilor's location outside. The dragon seemed uneasy, as if he could feel the tension the humans approaching him could. Iroh walked up and put a calming hand on the dragon's head.

"It's alright Valinor. I have a job for you," the snow white lizard perked up, "You are going to take my niece and nephew to track down a Water Empire ship." Zuko could've sworn he saw Valinor nod his head as if he understood. He supposed he shouldn't put it past dragons to understand human speech, they were intelligent creatures, they had taught humans Firebending. He and Azula climbed on to Valinor's back.

"They set a course of the South Pole." The soldier said. Zuko nodded and gave Valinor the signal to take off. Once they were flying over the open ocean he turned to Azula.

"Why do you want to rescue Toph anyway," he asked the question that had been on his mind since his sister suggested this mission, "You don't even like her." Azula smirked.

"Well as you've guessed Zuzu, I'm not saving your girlfriend out of the goodness of my heart." she said.

"She's not my girlfriend she's like twelve I'm sixteen it would be improper and I just met her yesterday," he didn't know why he was using energy to refute this claim, he just felt the need to.

"Minor details Zuzu," Azula said with a wave of the hand, "If you want to know the reason I want to rescue Toph despite my loathing for the girl, I'll tell you. If she is the Avatar as she and Uncle Iroh claim, and mind you I'm still not convinced she is, then she has clearly only learned Earthbending. This means that she'll be looking for a Firebending Master to teach her, " she explained, "and if we are traveling with her that master might teach us as well."

"So you're helping her for entirely selfish reasons." Zuko said.

"Well, not _entirely_ selfish reasons," Azula countered, "after all, if it all works out you'd get to learn more than basic Firebending as well. You wanted to save her anyway, I gave you that opportunity, so can you really complain about my reasons for it?" Zuko didn't say a word as he had no good argument against his sister's points.

When they finally caught up with Sokka's ship Zuko had Valinor make a low pass. He and Azula jumped off of the dragon landing in a circle of flames; Valinor then increased his altitude so he was out of the reach of possible Waterbender attacks. Zuko once again marveled at how smart the dragon was.

They wasted no time attacking the stunned Water Empire soldiers with their Firebending. He frowned at Azula's more brutal methods but continued fighting without comment. Some of the soldiers began scrambling for reinforcements.

"Azula, go to the lower decks and rescue Toph, I'll hold these guys off as long as I can." He ordered. His sister scowled at him.

"You want me to leave you alone up here?" she asked.

"Toph will be more heavily guarded than this. Of the two of us, you're the better fighter. You have the better chance of freeing her quickly. Once you get her out her we can fly off on Valinor." Zuko replied. Azula nodded and headed below to find Toph. Seeing this Zuko took a deep breath and prepared himself. The element of surprise was gone, now round two would begin. At least some of his opponents were likely to be Waterbenders. He hoped he could last long enough for Toph and Azula to get back…

* * *

Sokka heard the pandemonium begin from his quarters. His first thought was that the Fire Nation had sent pursuit ships to retrieve the Avatar, but he discarded that idea; they had disabled all the ships that could've followed and there was no way word could have gotten to the rest of the Fire Navy this soon. The idea continued to itch at Sokka's brain though. The Earthbender was after all a key figure in the war. The Fire Nation would do all it could to make sure Toph mastered the four elements. That was something the Water Empire would never allow. They were on a timetable as it was. Sozin's Comet was coming; the last time that had happened, nearly one hundred years ago now, the Fire Nation had made a rather successful push against the Empire.

Things had changed tactically and strategically in the last century of course. The Empire was stronger, the Fire Nation, more stable, having adapted to the colder climate the water Empire had created, but also weaker than it had been. The two nations were about equal technologically speaking so all in all an attack on the Empire by the Fire Nation even with the power provide them by Sozin's Comet likely wouldn't be as successful as the first one a century ago; if they had a fully realized Avatar on their side however…

Sokka shook those thoughts from his head. That wouldn't happen; he had the Avatar in custody. All he had to do now was get back to the South Pole and he could be reunited with his mother and sister. He still wondered what happened to his father who had disappeared only five years ago. He didn't dwell on that.

The uproar still went on above him. For a time he thought it some celebration. After all, they had captured the Avatar; they were all going home where full pardons for their crimes would be awarded in honor of their service, but it was too panicked for that. Sokka rushed up to the deck to find a Fire Nation boy only a little older than himself taking on the men manning the surface of the ship. He watched the boy slash the throat of a Waterbender with one of his twin swords; that appeared to be the last of his men fighting on the deck, most appeared to be merely incapacitated with only a few casualties like that last on. Whoever they were, they were good. He also saw the dragon flying above the ship. So that was how they got here.

"Hey, why don't you try me on for size?" Sokka called drawing sword. The Fire Nation warrior turned toward him and studied him with a critical eye.

"You must be Sokka, Prince of the Water Empire," he said, "I hear you're good with that sword."

"I see my reputation precedes me," Sokka replied with a smirk, "and to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?"

"My name is Zuko; I am the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. I'm here to retrieve the Avatar." Zuko said.

"I know why you're here, that wasn't a hard guess. Well now, Prince Zuko, this is a treat," Sokka said, "I owe you for attacking my ship. It seems like you killed a few good men too. Repaying the favor will be a great blow to the Fire Nation."

"I'd love to see you try." Zuko replied with a come and get me smirk. The pair charged at one another. Their blades clashed with a metallic clang. Sokka and Zuko moved back and forth across the deck in the deadly dance that only two skilled swordsmen could do. It was difficult with the unconscious and dead men on the deck but they managed it.

Zuko was very good, just as Sokka thought he would be. The Prince of the Water Empire knew he had the advantage of reach with his longer sword but Zuko's paired swords kept his blade at bay quite well. Finally Sokka stuck his foot out and tripped his opponent during a vulnerable point in his footwork. As Zuko fell Sokka disarmed him.

"It's over. I can see how you managed to defeat all these men. You are quite skilled Prince Zuko, but it's over," Sokka said pointing his sword at Zuko's neck. The Fire Prince laughed, "What's so funny?"

Two things," Zuko replied, "one I didn't do this alone, my sister Azula came with me. She's working on freeing Toph right now."

"What?" Sokka yelped. Zuko chuckled again.

"And the second thin is this." Zuko threw a fireball at him, burning his right hand and causing Sokka to drop his sword.

"A Firebender." Sokka breathed. He hadn't anticipated this, most benders, all of them that he knew of, would train with a weapon instead relying on their skill with their element for their combat. He'd underestimated his opponent something he wouldn't do again. Zuko stood up and tacked him. This day had started out so well…

* * *

Azula sent blue flames at the Water Empire soldier guarding Toph's cell with a vicious bicycle kick. She grinned with almost evil satisfaction as the fire made contact with the man's face. The howls of agony made it all the sweeter. He wouldn't live long. She grabbed the keys off his belt and kept moving.

"Who's there?" a voice called. Azula frowned slightly recognizing it as Toph's. Even though she was here to rescue the girl the Fire Princess still detested the Earthbender with great passion. Sill it was probably best to answer so Toph would cooperate.

"It's Azula, Zuko and I came to rescue you." she said making her way to Toph's cell.

"Oh, it's you Sparky," Toph said, never thought I'd be glad to see you." Azula put the key in the lock and turned it, letting the Earthbender free.

"You can't be glad to _see_ me, you're blind." Azula noted.

"Actually you're wrong about that Sparky. I can see using my Earthbending remember, feeling the vibrations in the ground. I can see where everything around me is. This ship's engine is screwing with my sight but I'm getting used to it. Azula admitted to herself that she was mildly impressed with this ability; using Earthbending to see wasn't something you heard about every day after all. She wasn't about to tell Toph this though.

Why do you keep calling me Sparky?" she demanded with a scowl. Not that the Earthbender could see her scowl, being blind and all, but scowling made Azula feel better.

"It's my nickname for you," Toph explained, "you're a Firebender and you have a very heated attitude so I decided to call you Sparky, you know, like fire sparks." Azula's scowl deepened.

"I hate it." The Fire Princess deadpanned as they walked back towards the exit that would bring them to the upper deck.

"Perfect," Toph replied with an infuriating grin that Azula guessed was supposed to be cute. She wanted to blast the Earthbender with a fireball so bad right now; the twerp had no defense against it on a metal ship like this one. As sorely tempting as that option was Azula decided against it. Getting back at Toph was counterproductive to both the mission at hand and Azula's ultimate goal in this venture, "So you said Zuko's here too?" Azula quirked an eyebrow at this.

"Zuko, you don't have a nickname for him?" the Fire Princess asked.

"I haven't come up with one yet." The Earthbender replied with a shrug.

"I call him Zuzu." Azula put in.

"Zuzu, I like it," Toph let out a chuckle, "I see you dealt with the guards."

"We're at war and they're the enemy. I'm not soft like Zuko. He doesn't like to kill unless he's backed into a corner; I prefer to only face an enemy once if the situation allows it." Azula said simply.

"I can't say I disagree with your philosophy," said Toph. Then she paused for a moment, "people are coming, ten maybe. Probably reinforcements against whatever Zuzu is doing up there. How did you guys get here anyway? I'm pretty sure this ship is decently out to sea." Toph and Azula smiled at the use of the nickname; Azula knew it would drive her brother insane.

"We flew here on our uncle's dragon." The Fire Princess said. Toph gulped.

"You flew here as in you were in the sky?" she asked. Azula relished her nervousness.

"What's wrong Toph?" she asked sweetly, despite knowing exactly what was wrong.

"There's no earth in the sky, I'll be completely blind. Well not _totally _blind, I'll be able to see the dragon and who and whatever is on it but you know what I mean." Toph said.

"Well the only other way off this ship is for you to wait until it lands in the South Pole." Azula reminded her.

"I get the point Sparky," The girls exited on to the upper deck to find Zuko fighting a boy with an eye patch, "Looks like Zuko met Prince Sokka."

"Let's go Zuzu; Top thinks his back up is coming." Azula called. Zuko stood up leaving his fight with Sokka and Valinor dropped close enough to the deck for the trio to get on his back. Just as they were about to take off ten Water Empire soldiers appeared on the deck.

"Stop them!" Sokka ordered as Valinor began to fly. The Water Empire soldiers, who appeared to all be Water benders sent a large wave at the dragon and its riders. Then a most bizarre thing happened, Toph's eyes began to glow and she conjured up a large fireball to dissipate the wave into harmless steam. Azula knew what that meant, there was only one being who could bend more than one element. It seemed that Toph was not done though as the Water empire ship passed by an island the Avatar showed an incredible feat of Bending power and broke off a piece of the island a little larger than the ship with her Earthbending and slammed it into the vessel not only severely damaging it side but beaching it as well.

"You really are the Avatar." Azula whispered as the glow in Toph's eyes dissipated. The Fire Princess didn't like to admit it but she'd been wrong about Toph and the Avatar Spirit in general. After seeing the power displayed by the Avatar Azula was thoroughly convinced Toph _was _the way to defeat the Water Empire.

"I told you so Sparky." Toph replied weakly before passing out.

* * *

Sokka was not happy. He'd had the Avatar in his grasp and lost her because of the Prince and Princess of the Fire Nation. He had underestimated them all far too often this day. He vowed to not make that mistake again.

"So, the Avatar got away did she?" Master Piandao asked.

"Thanks to the aid of those Fire Nation royals, yes," Sokka growled as he watched a Waterbender haler deal with the burn Zuko had inflicted on him, "and where were you while all of this was going on Master?"

"I was in my quarters taking a nap, Prince Sokka." Piandao said with a yawn the Prince of the Water Empire was sure as exaggerated.

"I highly doubt you could sleep through all of that." Sokka gave his master a one eyed glare. Piandao just shrugged.

"Believe what you wish Prince Sokka," he said, "now what are your plans?"

"My plans are simple: get what members of the crew that need healing healed, unbeach the ship so we can take it to port and have it repaired, give the dead a proper burial at sea, and once the ship is repaired continue to chase after the Avatar. Now that I know what to expect I'm confident I can defeat them." Piandao nodded.

"Good news for the Water empress, her greatest threat is just a little kid."

"That little kid did _this_." Sokka gestured to their surroundings.


	2. Fire: Chapter 2: Kyoshi Island Part 1

**Avatar: The Last Earthbender**

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or, just to cover my bases, Legend of Korra. I am however proficient in the ancient art of Settingbending which I'm using here.

**Chapter 2: Escape from Kyoshi Island Part 1**

"Land!" Toph practically screamed as she kissed the ground fervently. Zuko heard Azula snort as she watched the undignified behavior of the Avatar.

"Behold the world's savior," she said dryly, "The Water Empire must be shaking with fear right now." Zuko shot her a venomous look.

"Don't antagonize her, the Fire Nation still needs Toph's help to win the war, besides it was her first time flying, what did you expect?" he asked.

"Aw Zuzu, defending the little girl are we," she asked, "I'll tell you what I expected. I expected the legendary Avatar to behave with dignity, to have a presence that commands respect, fear, and awe. Instead we're stuck with this uncivilized ruffian who doesn't seem to like to bathe and likes to kiss dirt. All in all I think the world was better off when I thought the Avatar was an old folktale, because the real thing doesn't inspire my confidence." A spire of earth rose up beneath Azula's feet and knocked her off balance causing the Firebender to land firmly on her butt. She must've caught Zuko smiling out of the corner of her eye because she scowled at her brother.

"I'll have you know I can be quite civilized when I want to be Sparky," Toph said, "I'm a Beifong, I was the only child of one of the most influential families in the Earth Kingdom. I learned how to be refined. I just found that I don't want to be civilized very often."

"Clearly," Azula muttered as she stood up, "The Earth Kingdom was backward and uncivilized. It has to be to have birthed someone like you. They were weak as well, defeated and destroyed by the Water Empire while the Fire Nation and even the Air Nomads are still intact."

"Alright Sparky, you're asking for it." Toph fell into an Earthbending stance.

"Bring it on, Avatar." Azula replied as blue flames played around her fingers. One good shot was all she needed. One good shot would silence the Avatar; Zuko knew his sister's train of thought. Before either girl could do anything Zuko jumped between them.

"That's enough you two," he said, "We have to go see Uncle Iroh now so you two need to be on your best behavior, understand?"

"Yes mom." Toph groaned rolling her eyes. Azula laughed at the comment. Zuko was glad the animosity between the two girls had already been forgotten, he wasn't as thrilled that it had to be at his expense.

_"Well, if me being their verbal punching bag helps make sure they don't kill each other, I can deal with that."_ Zuko thought to himself.

"So, let's go see Uncle, shall we?" Azula asked.

"I hope he'll teach me Firebending, I've got Water Empire butt to kick." Toph mused.

"I think you mean _we've _got Water Empire butt to kick Toph." Azula corrected.

"Yeah, you're right Sparky, you two did save me back there I suppose I owe you a hand in the fun." The Avatar said.

"How can you be so calm about this," Zuko asked, "This is war. People die every day and here you are making light of it. This isn't going to be easy."

"Lighten up Zuzu; you were the one always going on about the Avatar, well now we've found her. The war should be easy enough once Toph masters the four elements, shouldn't it?" Azula asked.

"She's right, I _am_ pretty amazing," Toph boasted, "This war should be over soon enough."

"Can you two be serious when you're not trying to kill each other for one minute," Sokka snapped, "The Water Prince, Sokka knows about you Toph, it's only a matter of time before the rest of the Water Empire does too. You are their greatest threat in the war. They will do anything and everything to get you out of the picture and with the entire Water Empire hunting you, nothing will be easy."

"Sokka's an exile," Toph said, "I don't think we need to worry about him screaming off the mountaintops that I'm back, especially when he needs to catch me in order to go back home."

"I hate to agree with my brother," Azula said, "but he has a point is this case, if he can get the entire Water Empire on a manhunt for you and lead the charge, it makes his job much easier. He'll spread the word that you're back to those he thinks he can trust in order to gain more numbers on his side and deal with any leaks as they come. It's what I would do."

"Sparky and Zuzu agreeing on something," Toph's tone might have been one of genuine shock, "I may not have known you two for very long, but I never thought I'd see the day."

"We agreed on coming to rescue you," Zuko pointed out, "Although I was the one who really wanted to rescue you, Azula just wanted to use you to find a Firebending teacher."

"And yet she's the one who did the actual rescuing." The Avatar said.

"Because I told her to!" Zuko replied.

"You told me to rescue Toph because you didn't think you could do it yourself, his sister said, "and frankly you were probably right. You likely wouldn't have made it past her guards."

"So the big strong Fire Nation Prince had to send his little sister to do the hard part," Toph broke out into a laugh, "What was little Zuzu afraid of getting a booboo?" Now Azula joined in the laughter. Zuko kneaded his forehead; he could feel a migraine coming on. These two would be the death of him, one minute they were at each other's throats, the next thy were getting on like a house aflame. If it was always going to be like this it would be a _long_ trip. Thankfully he was spared more of the current conversation by the fact that they were now in the presence of his Uncle Iroh.

"We've rescued the Avatar, Uncle." He said as he knelt in a show of respect, both Toph and Azula did the same.

"I can see that Prince Zuko," Iroh said, "Who led the Water Empire raid on this island?"

"That was the exiled Prince Sokka Uncle." Zuko said.

"He needs to cat me to end his exile." Toph added.

"I see," the Fire Lord said, "Be very careful then. Before his exile Prince Sokka was thought very highly of in the Water Empire for his skills in swordsmanship and strategy as I am sure you found out, as I'm sure you found out. Toph?"

"Yes Fire Lord Iroh?" she asked.

"As the Avatar you must master the four elements," he said, "As an Earthbender the next element you must master is fire."

"We know this Uncle this is basic Avatar lore." Azula cut in but Iroh ignored her and continued with what he had been saying.

"I know you were hoping for me to be your Firebending teacher but due to the responsibilities of being Fire Lord I cannot take this responsibility. You will have to find someone else to teach you."

"I understand Fire Lord Iroh." The Avatar said.

"Zuko and Azula will accompany you on your journey; you will take Valinor. I had servants pack clothes and provisions for you that should last you long enough to get started, " Iroh said, "Amongst the clothing are clothes that will help you blend into Water Empire settlements."

"Thank you Uncle." Zuko said, both Toph and Azula echoed the sentiment. After a quick tearful goodbye between uncle and niece and nephew and a polite good bye from the Avatar Toph, Zuko, and Azula let to get back on Valinor and leave Ember Island.

"So Avatar, where are we going to find a Firebending teacher?" Toph shrugged.

"I have no idea," she said, "but there's something I need to see before I even start thinking about finding a Firebending teacher." Azula looked ready to be make a biting retort but Zuko cut his sister off.

"Oh and what's that?" he asked with genuine curiosity.

"I need to see Gaoling," was her answer, "I need to see my home."

* * *

Sokka sighed as his ship pulled into a Water Empire base for repairs. Like most Water Empire bases this close to the enemy this one was really a large artificial iceberg made and maintained by Waterbenders floating in the open ocean. They were easier to build and move that way, should the need to move an entire base ever arise. His ship was pulled into the hole in the ice that served as a dock. He tried to avoid stops like this as much as possible; they were always… uncomfortable to say the least. The Water Empire was all about community and unity, all about wanting to spread love and charity, or so they claimed. Sokka wasn't sure he could tow the party line anymore after his banishment. He'd thought what he was doing was, well maybe not right, but for the best, it might have even promoted unity in the long run but his mother hadn't seen it that way.

Sokka was an exile, someone cast out from the community, which made him lower than scum, lower than the "savage" enemies the Water Empire was fighting to conquer so they could be "enlightened". He was lower than those who lived in the Fire Nation or the Air Temples. He was branded a traitor and betrayal was the worst offense a citizen of the Empire could commit.

Several citizens of the Empire had tried to kill him on stops such as these. No one wanted a traitor in their midst but Sokka had steeled himself; these people wouldn't get the better of him, not now, not ever. Once he captured the Avatar all would be forgiven. Though he now knew Toph and those Fire Nation royals Zuko and Azula wouldn't make it easy for him that only excited him. The Crown Prince of the Water Empire looked forward to the challenge.

"Sokka," a voice called cheerfully. He knew that voice; it was one very close to his heart. He looked up to see his father's best friend Bato approaching him and Master Piandao, "It's so good to see you again kid. I've been worried about you ever since, well you know…"

"Bato," Sokka rushed forward and hugged the man who had been like a second father to him since his own had disappeared five years ago," You shouldn't have worried about me, I know how to handle myself and Master Piandao has been a lot of help too, especially in reigning in my crew." Bato glanced up and met Pandao's eyes for the briefest of moments.

"So you're still toting around that Fire Nation sword master?" The disdain in his voice was clear.

"Prince Sokka asked me to accompany him on his banishment as an advisor Captain Bato, " Piandao said curtly, "He trusts my judgment." The situation was tense for the briefest of moments and Sokka thought he might have to intervene but then Bato spoke.

"Well I suppose if Sokka trusts you I can too," he said, "and it's Commander Bato now, I was promoted. Anyway what brings you to my base?"

"My ship had a little… accident," Sokka said, "We ran into the Avatar on Ember Island."

"The Avatar," Bato asked in shock, "You mean he's alive?"

"She," the Water Prince corrected, "Her name is Toph Beifong, she a blind girl, about twelve years old, but don't let that fool you, she's an Earthbender of prodigious talent and power. Not only that but she's traveling if Prince Zuko and Princess Azula of the Fire Nation who are both quite skilled in Firebending and Zuko is almost as skilled with blades as I am." The Water Tribe commander whistled appreciatively.

"So you finally found the Avatar, Sokka," he mused, "and from the sound of things she's painted an even bigger target on her back by traveling with Fire Nation royals. Just about the only way she could make herself a bigger target for water Empire forces would be if Fire Lord Iroh himself were traveling with her."

"Unfortunately, we have no idea where they'll turn up next." Sokka admitted.

"I may be able to help you there; I have a large selection of Earth Kingdom tomes that were taken during that period in the war. I may be able to turn something up but for now why don't you two rest and refresh yourselves a bit while my men get to work on your ship?" Two of Bato's men led Sokka and Piandao to a comfortable room, or rater one of the many tents that qualified as rooms, inside the base, decorated with typical water Empire décor. In other words, lots of fur.

"Ah," The Water prince sighed as he flopped into a chair lined with buffalo yak fur, "This feels just like being at home again!"

"I'm glad you are comfortable Prince Sokka, but it might not be wise to stay here," Piandao said, looking visibly uncomfortable in these surroundings, which no doubt reminded him that he was a prisoner of war, if a useful one, "In fact, I'd say it was a bad idea to come to this base at all."

"Master, what are you talking about, Bato is one of, if not the only person I would count as an ally in the Water Empire since my banishment." Piandao sighed.

"That is exactly the problem," he said, "You've let your guard down around Commander Bato, you even told him about finding the Avatar. That is a risky gamble Prince Sokka; he is a high ranking officer in the Water Navy. His reports will reach your mother's ears. Who is to say he won't betray you for glory and rank?"

"I trust Bato," Sokka snapped," He practically raised me after my father disappeared. If I can't trust him then I can't trust anyone in the Empire. He's not the kind of person would betray me for rank and prestige, I know him and I know we can trust him."

"Very well," Piandao said, "the decisions on this journey are ultimately yours. I am merely trying to advise you as best I can. I give advice that I feel is wise. Whether or not you take said advice is up to you." With that they went silent for a good while, it was an uncomfortable silence. The kind you got when two friends were having a fight. Finally the silence was broken when Bato entered the room and sat down in a chair in from of a table in the center of the room as Sokka and Piandao had.

"So you said the Avatar's name was Toph Beifong right?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's right, why?" Sokka asked.

"_This_ is why," Bato placed a tome that had to be at least a century old on to the table. Dust flew up in a great cloud causing everyone in the room to cough. He opened the book to a page with a picture of a white flying boar, "The Beifong family was a wealthy noble Earth Kingdom family seated in the town of Gaoling."

"Ok, but how does this help us?" Sokka inquired.

"The Avatar must have missed the part of the war where the Water Empire wiped out the Earthbenders and the majority of the Earth Kingdom. She's likely disoriented and having trouble grasping the reality of the situation. Now if you were in her place, where would you go first Sokka?" Bato prompted.

"Home!" Sokka said excitedly, pounding his fist against his palm, "She's going to Gaoling!"

"And she won't find much there. The city was let uninhabited after the war unlike some others the Empire took from the Earth Kingdom, like Omashu." The Water Empire Commander said

"So we should set a course for Gaoling then." Sokka declared.

"Don't get too hasty kid, there may be a way to head her and her Fire Nation friends off before they get to Gaoling," Bato then turned to Piandao, "You're Fire Nation, if you were helping the Avatar and wanted to make sure she could travel with the lest likelihood of getting caught by the Water Empire what mode of transportation would you take?"

"A dragon," Piandao answered, "It's too risky to travel by sea with Imperial patrols and being able to travel by land would be a rarity. That leaves travel by air and while the Water Empire does have its naturalized Airbenders, you're much less likely to run into one of them." Bato nodded, Sokka took that mean he'd come the same conclusion as Piandao.

"You can't carry much on the way of supplies on a dragon, so they'll have to land before they get to Gaoling," Bato said as he pulled out a map, "Now assuming they take the most direct route from Ember Island to Gaoling they should land… here for supplies." The Water Empire Commander pointed at a spot on the map. Sokka leaned into read the name.

"Kyoshi Island," he said, "I know that place; it was one of the few areas where we let the natives be assimilated into the Empire as there were practically no Earthbenders among the population. There's a group of female warriors there who pattern themselves after Avatar Kyoshi."

"The Kyoshi Warriors," Piandao interjected with some bitterness, "They're nasty on the battlefield. They're often called in by the Empire for special missions. They were the ones that captured me. The women in the group have probably changed by now, but I wouldn't expect them to be any less fearsome than the ones I faced."

"In addition to the Kyoshi Warriors the island also has the standard contingent of policing Waterbenders for an area that didn't originally belong to one of the three Water Tribes that make up the foundation of the Empire," Bato noted, "The Avatar will have a couple days' head start on us but a dragon isn't as fast as a steamship. We'll likely arrive somewhat later than the Avatar and her companions but they're landing in hostile territory, the forces that are there should keep them busy long enough for us to arrive."

"Us?" Sokka asked.

"Of course, I'll be helping you out on this mission. That is, if you'll have me. I'd bring a contingent of Imperial Fire and Airbenders. Between then, the Waterbenders you have and the forces already on Kyoshi Island, the Avatar and her friends wouldn't know what hit them. Of course I'd give you full command of the combined forces so you'd get credit for catching the Avatar and finally be able to come home."

"I'd be honored to have your help Bato," Sokka said, then continued with some hesitation "After we catch the Avatar, could you take me ice dodging. I was barred from taking that rite of passage because of my banishment I know my father's supposed too it but since he's missing and presumed dead…"

"I'd be more than happy to oversee that rite of passage for you. I don't even think you should've been banished in the first place. You're mother and I had quite an argument over that, but in the end, well she's the Water Empress. Arguing with her probably hurt my career, but that doesn't bother me," Sokka was about to thank him when he continued, "I don't think your dad's dead Sokka. I've known Hakoda my entire life; he wouldn't just up and disappear, he had you and Katara to look after. No, I think your mother did something with him, banished him like she did you, only she did this one quietly. She wouldn't kill him though; she loved him too much to do that."

"So you're saying Dad is still alive?" Sokka asked excitedly.

"Now, it's just a feeling I have, but I promise we'll get the answers about what really happened to your father. He was my best friend and something just doesn't add up, but right now we need to focus on catching the Avatar so he can see his son when this is all sorted out." Sokka wanted to protest but he knew Bato was right. His top priority had be catching Toph and ending his banishment, maybe catching the Prince and Princess of the Fire Nation would make his mother more likely to reveal what happened to his father as well.

"So what's going on back home how's my family?"

"Well Sokka, your mother named Katara her heir right after you were banished, other than that, things are same as you left them." Bato told him.

"It doesn't surprise me," Piandao said, "She sent Price Sokka on what she expected to be an endless and fruitless quest. If he found the Avatar and brought her back, he could come back to the Water Empire and live his life as he one had, but she never really expected him to actually find the Avatar." It didn't surprise Sokka either. Katara had always been their mother's favorite, simply because she was a Waterbender. His sister had always been given the best of everything the Water Empire had to offer because of her Bending. Sokka had been an afterthought to his mother; it had been his father who had arranged his apprenticeship to Master Piandao. His father had always had faith that Sokka could be something great.

His mother on the other hand, well she'd always wanted Katara to be her successor but his father would have none of it, there were laws that dictated that Sokka was heir and he was adamant that they be followed. Then his father had disappeared, Sokka now had a feeling that Bato's hunch was right, that his mother had found some excuse to banish his father quietly. After that all she need was an excuse to get rid of Sokka, and he'd given her that excuse. His hand went up to touch his eye patch.

"Let's get my ship patched up and set a course for Kyoshi Island. We're catching the Avatar." He declared. He'd show his mother and his sister too. He'd bring the Avatar back to the South Pole as his prisoner, not only that but he would bring the only heirs to the Fire Nation throne as well. He'd get his life back whether they liked it or not, and then he would get his father back.

* * *

Toph _hated _flying. She hated it a lot. When flying on Valinor she wasn't touching the ground and when she wasn't touching the ground she was blind, truly blind and that really got under her skin. She hadn't been blind like this since she was ix and had run away from home. She'd wound up in a cave and learned Earthbending from the original Earthbenders, the badgermoles. They'd understood each other, both being blind. Ever since she'd taught herself Earthbending by imitating their moments and gaining their seismic sense Earthbending had been her sight. Here in the sky there were no vibrations to feel.

Toph idly wondered what had become of the badgermoles in the last hundred years, with the Water Empire not only invading the Earth Kingdom but drastically cooling the planet. They'd been her only friends and she hoped they were alright. She knew it was probably false hope, if the Water Empire was willing to start an ice age they likely didn't care what happened to the badgermoles. Toph knew she could ask Zuko or Azula about the status of the animals in this new world she'd found herself in but she was pretty sure it would either be that they were extinct or very near it. In this case it was probably better she didn't know for sure, hat way she could always hope that they were still thriving out there and if not, well that was just one more reason to lay the Avatar smack down on the Water Empire.

Toph really wasn't sure what she thought about this whole her being the Avatar thing. She hadn't had time to adjust to it as her parents had kept it hidden from her as long as they could.

_"Just like they tried to keep me hidden from the world." _She thought bitterly. They'd only seen their blind daughter; they'd never actually seen _Toph._ They just saw this fragile little girl that needed to be protected from everyone and everything. Their image of Toph clashed so badly with her being the Avatar it was almost funny. After all, the Avatar was supposed to be the most powerful person in the world.

Toph didn't hate her parents. They'd loved her in their own overprotective way but they'd been so smothering… Before being freed from that boulder by Zuko and Azula on Ember Island she'd never even met anyone remotely close to her own age. Toph had been raised to be a prim and proper lady with manners befitting her noble station and had reacted against such things with great pleasure. She never bathed or wore shoes, she spat, picked her nose and toes, and was downright sarcastic and rude to people she didn't care for whenever she could get away with it.

She thought back to the day she'd found out she was the Avatar a couple of older men had come to her home to take her away so she could begin her training. She'd been so excited then she'd thought she was going to get to travel the world, learn the four elements, keep the world's balance and get to bust bad guy heads. All in all it sounded like a pretty cool job to Toph, she didn't quite understand what the world's balance was, she still didn't but the rest of it sounded amazing.

Unfortunately her parents would've none of it. They just couldn't believe that their helpless little girl was the Avatar even after having several years to digest the fact. Toph wasn't sure how they'd determined she was the Avatar, she only knew they did it when she was very young, too young to remember, but the fact remained that she was the Avatar.

Toph sighed. That day had changed everything. Apparently her sigh was louder than she thought as she heard someone stirring. She couldn't tell who it was because they were in flight but one of the two siblings was awake.

"What's wrong Toph?" It was unsurprisingly Zuko's voice that greeted her. Honestly she was glad it was him and not Azula. She and Azula saw eye to eye on many things she and Zuko didn't and were in some manner that couldn't be described by word friends, but when it came to talking about your feelings and bearing out your deepest, darkest secrets Azula struck Toph as one of the last people to trust to not mock you or use the information to gain some sort of advantage.

"I was just thinking about the day I found out I was the Avatar, It was the same day I got trapped in that boulder you and Azula found me in on Ember Island." Toph admitted.

"What happened if you don't mind me asking?" Zuko had given her a way out, she didn't have to answer the question if she didn't want to, but she didn't want to hide things from one of her only friends in the world. Toph pulled herself down deeper into her blanket, partially to shield herself from the cold air, as they traveled at night to avoid detection and partially in a vain hope that it would ward off the numbness that the memory made her feel.

"My parents were very sheltering… They thought that because of my blindness that I was helpless," she began, "They'd known I was the Avatar for years but refused to believe it and they were perfectly content with me never fining out. I'd already briefly run away as a child and learned Earthbending from the badgermoles, the original Earthbenders. I often snuck out at night to participate in Earthbending matches and I was the best there was. The day I was trapped in that boulder, some men came to take me away so I could learn the four elements and fulfill my duties as Avatar. I was so excited my parents had been so zealous in their protection of me that most people didn't even know they had a daughter. I finally had a legitimate reason to leave my prison…" she trailed off and tried desperately to regain his composure.

"What happened?" Zuko asked hesitantly.

"My parents refused to let me go and sent the men away. It being my duty as the Avatar didn't matter to them, they just wanted to protect their helpless little bind girl. So I ran away. I ran back to the cave where I first met the badgermoles, my only friends. I ran there because it was where I felt safest and I thought I'd be able to think things through and plan my next move there. Then there was an earthquake and the cave collapsed. I remember rocks falling on me, and then nothing until you and Azula found me."

"You did the right thing Toph." Zuko assured her.

"Did I," she asked, "sometime after I ran away the Water Empire must've begun their attack, maybe if I'd stayed where I was I could've convinced my parents that I needed to master the elements and stopped the Water Empire. Maybe I could've prevented this war."

"You can't think like that Toph," the Fire Prince told her, "There's a saying that's a favorite of my uncle's Sometimes life is like a dark tunnel. You can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving, you will come to a better place."

"Maybe you're right." Toph said. She jumped as she felt Zuko's arm wrap around her and pull her into a friendly hug.

"It'll all turn out alright," he said, "Everything happens for a reason. I mean if that hadn't happened you wouldn't have met Azula and I and who knows what would've happened to you if you'd stayed home."

"You know I'm really glad Azula is asleep right now, she'd never let us live this down." Toph said. Zuko chuckled at that.

"You're right, she wouldn't," he agreed, "Speaking of sleep we should get some ourselves. We'll be arriving at Kyoshi Island in the morning and we've got to have our wits about us, it's enemy territory." Zuko end the hug and moved away from Toph who was rather sad the contact had ended.

"That was my first hug." She muttered to herself as she lay down to sleep herself, comforted by the warm feeling that came when you knew someone cared about you.

* * *

Suki, leader of the Kyoshi Warriors looked out into the sky with her spyglass. She couldn't believe what she was seeing; a dragon was flying toward the island. Did the Fire Nation think this island was defenseless, that they could actually take it with just whoever was on that dragon? No of course they didn't they're back up was already on the island.

Suki cursed, she knew letting that Fire Nation circus on to the island was a bad idea. However, and order from the Water Empress was an order from the Water Empress and she'd ordered that her people be entertained by any means necessary. So Fire Nation entertainers were let into Water Empire territory, it made soldiers like Suki uneasy, but it kept the civilians happy. Apparently that was what mattered most to the Water Empress, never mind that every non-Imperial let into the borders of the Water Empire could gain and send information to the Fire Nation or even the Air Nomads. Sure they were winging the war and it was taking all the Fire Nation had to keep Imperial soldiers of its islands according to the reports, but this bordered on overconfidence, and that assessment was generous. Suki quickly did an about-face and looked over the assembled Kyoshi Warriors and Waterbenders.

"As we feared that _is_ a dragon flying in," she said sharply, "Kyoshi Island is being attacked by the Fire Nation. Kyoshi Warriors, we're going to the circus, it's possible that they were advance scouts, maybe not but we know that they'll help the invaders fight us; we can't give them the chance to link up. Waterbenders, your orders are to do whatever you need to do to bring down that dragon!" One of the Waterbenders stepped forward. Suki frowned; it was Leka, the leader of the Waterbender police force on the island. The two factions had a tenuous working relationship at best and thus Leka and Suki didn't get along.

"Are _you _giving _us _orders now Suki," Leka asked in a sickly sweet voice that was full of venom; that seemed to be her default tone when dealing with both the civilians and the Kyoshi Warriors. She looked and acted like a stereotypical member of the Southern Water Tribe someone raised near the seat of Imperial power, tan skin, blue eyes, brown hair in looped braids, and of course the haughty attitude that came with thinking you're superior to others, "What makes you think you have the right to give Waterbenders orders? After all you're not a Bender; you're not even Water Tribe. Even those hicks out in Foggy Swamp are better than you." Oh how Suki wished Leka would go back to the South Pole and freeze to death, or at least freeze her mouth off but alas, the spirits didn't seem to be listening to that particular request.

"We don't have time for this Leka! The island is about to be attacked," Suki snapped, "What do you want, for the Kyoshi Warriors to knock the dragon out of the sky? You know we can't do that and the beast is over water, you're element. So get to work bringing that dragon down, unless you think your oh so great Waterbenders can't do it."

"You should watch your tone when talking to Imperial Waterbenders Suki," Leka said, "Especially ones as important as I am. Who knows what might happen if you run your mouth off, accidents happen every day." Suki saw the other Kyoshi Warriors take battle stances behind her and smirked.

"You should be careful what you say," She said, "If something were to happen to me after a comment like that my friends might just get a little restless and take it out on you and yours and I'm pretty sure the people of this island would support them and not you."

"You wouldn't dare," The Waterbender said, "If you even tried something like that the Water Empire's army would purge this island. Besides you need us to make sure you aren't conquered by the Fire Nation. You can't really be that suicidal. You do care about these people don't you?"

"I care about the people of this island alright, and I'm starting to think maybe they'd be better off under the rule of the Fire Nation," Suki said. That wasn't a lie, Suki had thought that many times over the years, but she knew the Water Empire would just come back and take it in force and take it back, possibly purging the island if that ever happened, "Maybe we should put that theory to the test? What do you think Leka?"

"I think you speak treason and should be thrown in a cell Suki," Leka countered, "All I'd have to do is order it."

"Maybe I am speaking treason, and maybe you could throw me in a jail cell for it. However you'd have to fight all the Kyoshi Warriors to do it," Behind Leka the Waterbenders got into fighting stances, "and you know how skilled we are; we're the crack team the Water Empress calls on when she needs something done, not your Waterbenders Leka. Now we are on an island, so there's plenty of water for your benders to manipulate. You could probably beat us but it would be a long bloody fight. That is, if we were alone, but we would be alone I'm sure Fire Nation forces are on that dragon and the circus performers that are already here are likely combat trained in case something goes wrong and they would eagerly flock behind the banner of their homeland, the Fire Nation. How would you stop them from taking Kyoshi Island if you're busy fighting us? Kyoshi Island would be lost to the Fire Nation al because you wanted to put me in jail, I'm sure _that _wouldn't look good on your record. Of course all that could be avoided if you and your Waterbenders just knock that dragon out of the sky." Suki took a perverse pleasure in watching Leka squirm like a caged rat. The Waterbender looked like she wanted to take her head off.

"Fine, have it your way Suki," she relented, "but I won't forget this insubordination."

"Like it could be any other way Leka," the pair of rivals glared for a moment before Suki turned to the other Kyoshi Warriors. "Alright, like I said before we're crashing a circus, be on guard, we're in for a fight! Let's move out!" The Kyoshi Warriors nodded silently they took off as quickly as possible. S they left Suki heard Leka _finally_ give the orders to her Waterbenders to bring that dragon down. They'd lost valuable time due to Leka's arrogance, perhaps enough to cost them the battle. Well that just meant Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors would have to work twice as hard to make sure the Fire Nation workers at the circus didn't link up with whoever was on that dragon, for the sake of the people of this island.

It didn't take long for the Kyoshi Warriors to get to the circus compound. There wasn't a show going on so there weren't any possible civilian casualties. Everything was perfect for this sort of operation. The first people to see them were a rather bored looking black haired girl and the brown haired girl Suki remembered seeing on the high wire when she'd gone to the circus during her leisure time.

"Take no prisoners." Suki ordered. A ghost of a smile played on the lips of the bored girl.

"Finally some fun." she said in a dreary monotone as he pulled knives out of somewhere, probably her sleeve, quick as lightning.

"Who goes around wearing that much makeup?" The acrobat screwed up her face into a disgusted frown and her voice had that same overly sweet tones that Leka's often did, even though it held much less malice than Leka's did, maybe none at all the tone still made Suki want to carve up her face to relieve the stress of the day. The bored girl rolled her eyes.

"You can give them makeup tips later Ty Lee, go get the Firebenders, we've got a fight on our hands," she said, "If the Kyoshi Warriors are here then the Waterbenders won't be far behind and the two of us won't be able to take on all of them. I'll hold them off while you get the others."

"Are you sure you'll be ok Mai," Ty Lee asked, "There's quite a few of them." Mai smirked.

"You know me; this is what I live for." Mai said.

"Alright." Ty Le began to leave via a string of acrobatic moves.

_"Show off."_ Suki thought.

"Stop her!" she ordered. The Kyoshi Warriors moved to stop Ty Lee from warn the rest of the circus. However they were stopped when Mai sent her knives flying with a flick of the wrist. The projectiles were blocked or dodged by various means but it was enough of a distraction for Ty Lee to get away. The battle lines were clearly drawn. If the Kyoshi Warriors wanted to stop Ty Lee from spoiling the surprise attack they'd have to get past Mai.

* * *

Azula sat stone-faced as Zuko steered Valinor to dodge a lance of Water that had risen from the sea. It seemed there were Waterbenders on Kyoshi Island, something the group had not been aware of when deciding to set down here and said Waterbenders we not happy to see them.

"There goes our plan of blending in." Zuko said as he kept Valinor swerving between blasts of water.

"Honestly Zuzu, what did you expect," she asked, "We're flying in on a dragon. Did you really think they wouldn't notice? They probably think this is an invasion, not a supply run.

"I don't suppose they'd listen to us if we tried to explain would they?" Zuko asked rhetorically. Azula was about to hit with another sarcastic barb but Toph snorted and spoke first.

"Not likely," she said, "A dragon isn't animal one would bring on a simple supply stop for a long trip. Which means if we want our supplies we'll have to go down there and fight for them and that suits me just fine." Azula turned and smiled at the Avatar. The two of them did but heads quite often, but it wasn't out of hatred, not on her part anyway, and not to Toph's part either if she had to guess. Not it was more that they both had a desire to be the best and saw the other as a rival of sorts. It was all friendly in a strange sort of antagonistic way.

"I'm looking forward to the fight actually," the Fire Princess said, "I've wanted to take the fight to the Water Empire for almost as long as I've been alive."

"I bet I can take down more of them than you," Toph said, "I'm the greatest Earthbender alive after all."

"That's not particularly impressive considering you're the _only _Earthbender in the world," Azula pointed out, "Even if you could only barely move a pebble you'd be the greatest Earthbender in the world. So that little boast says nothing about your skill as a bender."

"I'm sure I could take you any day of the week Sparky."

"Oh you think so do you, well we'll just have to find out who's the better Bender some time won't we?" Azula asked.

"Nah, we don't need to do that," said Toph, "I already know the answer, it's me. I _am_ the Avatar after all. A simple Firebender like you doesn't stand a chance against the mistress of the elements."

"Fine then Avatar, we'll make an Agni Kai," Azula declared, "Once you've got a good grasp on Firebending will settle this dispute with nothing but Firebending."

"Sounds good to me Sparky," Toph said, "I look forward to it."

"Can you two stop bantering; we're coming up on an island full of Waterbenders and trained soldiers!" Zuko shouted as he continued to maneuver Valinor through the attacks of the Waterbenders. Something Azula had completely tuned out during her banter with Toph.

"And," Toph asked, "I don't see what the big deal is."

"Of course you don't see the problem, you're bind," Azula teased, the Avatar scowled at her without malice, "but I must agree. You shouldn't worry so much Zuzu, the Avatar and I will protect you." Zuko opened his mouth to reply but only unintelligible sound came out. After a said he was finally able to find his voice.

"I swear to the Spirits, you two are going to drive me insane," he said, "It's only been a week since you two met and you're already driving me crazy. Now where should I land Valinor?"

"Land him in front of the Waterbenders. We can take them." Toph instructed.

"Of course, why'd I even bother asking," Zuko landed Valinor in front of the Waterbender so Toph could get off safely and the trio was off the dragon in a flash ready for anything, "Look we don't mean you any harm, we just came to buy some supplies and then we'll be on our way." A girl who looked to be the leader of the Waterbenders stepped forward.

"If you are here in peace than why did you come on a beast of war" she asked motioning over to Valinor.

"It was our only means of transportation." Zuko said.

"Well I don't believe you," the girl said, "I think you're Fire Nation invaders. If you really are here in peace you will come with me and be put in holding, then the Water Empress will decide what to do with you." Azula knew exactly what the Water Empress would have done to them, they would be summarily executed. She glanced over at Zuko who seemed to be considering his options. Azula knew of course that their options weren't good. They could try to get back on Valinor and fly away from her but without supplies they'd have to land again somewhere else and there was no guarantee that the locals there would be any friendlier than this girl. The other option was that they fight through the opposition, get into town and take what they needed; she liked that option a lot better.

"Yeah, not going to happen." Toph declared slamming her left foot into the ground and casing a spire to erupt under the girl's feet and sending her flying at least a yard. All the Waterbenders stared in shock, not quite processing what just happened, after all Earthbenders were supposed to be extinct. The trio didn't give them time to recover. It only took maybe half a few seconds but fifteen Waterbenders went down in in a storm of earth and red and blue flames. Azula was about to make a snide comment when she saw it, smoke rising in the distance.

"Looks like someone else is having a party," She said, "Maybe actual Fire Nation forces?"

"It could just be a house fire," Zuko said, "but it is worth checking out." With that Toph, Zuko, and Azula began running toward the smoke. They ran into the village proper, al the common folk seemed to be holed up in their houses. They'd probably panicked when they saw Valinor coming, though getting inside wood houses wasn't exactly the best defense against dragons.

"Guys those Waterbenders are coming after us," Toph warned, "No wait, not all of them, just ten of the fifteen, the others must've stayed behind to…"

"Valinor can handle himself," Zuko said, right now we need to worry about ourselves." The Waterbenders had caught up with them and were on the attack now. Toph constructed a wall of earth to use as a defensive position while Zuko and Azula fought back the watery assault with various Firebending techniques. Toph tossed in some stone projectiles as well but the battle seemed to be at a stalemate. The Fire Princess was just glad they were in the middle the Island, near the statue of Avatar Kyoshi, and away from the ocean where their opponents could only use the water they carried in pouches. Still their numbers made it difficult to keep them at bay.

The sounds of battle that were not their own reached Azula's ears. She couldn't look a she had to keep her focus on the struggle to keep the Waterbenders away but she could her. She could hear the Firebenders pushing their opponents back. A myriad of voices battled for attention, none winning over the din. She saw that Zuko had stopped fighting and was about to berate him for it when he spoke three shock words. Two names she'd been unsure if she would ever hear again.

"Mai? "Ty Lee?"

* * *

Zuko was in shock, the last time he'd seen these two they'd run off and joined the circus. Since they were traveling the world he'd given up on ever seeing them again. That had been two, maybe three years ago now.

His eyes rested on Mai. Before she'd left there had been a mutual attraction between them, it was a small thing, a simple childhood crush but seeing her now sent those old feelings rushing back. He wanted to call to her, to run to her but they were in the heat of battle and now was not the time.

"Hey Zuko," Toph grunted, "How about a little help over here? As good as she is, she can't take all fifteen Waterbenders alone and it's taking all my effort to keep the wall up under this attack."

"You can stare at Mai later Zuzu," Azula said, the beginnings of exhaustion telling in her voice, "That is if we even survive this. Which we won't if you don't get your head out of the clouds!" That snapped the Fire prince back to reality. He turned to see that Toph was indeed struggling to hold up their little defensive wall under the constant bombardment of ice the Waterbenders were shelling out.

"Right sorry." He said, turning back to the task at hand. He mentally berated himself; normally it was Toph and Azula who had to be kept on task, not him. How could he have been so stupid, this wasn't the time to get distracted by a pretty face. He took his frustration out on the Waterbenders his anger with himself made his Firebending stronger.

"So who's Mai?" Toph asked.

"Zuzu's girlfriend," Azula answered, "or at least she was, she ran away to join the circus a couple years ago."

"Ouch, when your girlfriend would rather spend time with clowns than you…" Toph said.

"She wasn't my girlfriend." Zuko growled, between the tree of them the Waterbenders were on the run now and the Kyoshi Warriors were also being pushed back by their opponents.

"Retreat! The leader of both factions called. Their subordinates obeyed ad make a hasy retreat back toward the beach.

"Don't let them get away!" Toph cried and the trio and Fire Nation forces quickly followed after attacking their fleeing adversaries. It was much harder to hit mving targets thugh Toph ad some success.

"Soon they were in sight of the beach and when the Fire Nation forces looked out into the distance they all gasped.

"We should fall back to the circus and dig in for defense." Zuko said.

"Why," Toph asked, being blind she couldn't see the impending danger, "We have them on the run."

"Toph, I think Zuko's right on this one," Azula said, "Sokka's here, and he brought friends."

* * *

Ok guys, so this chapter was getting way long for my tastes considering the real battle hasn't even started yet. So I've decided to split it into two parts. Rest assured I will get on the second half right away and I will get it up A.S.A.P. Ok so, leave reviews, questions comments, concerns and if your answers won't give away spoilers I will address them. Thank you all for reading.


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